Lost Time
by PetiteGrenouille
Summary: Nate returns home to Elena and his daughter. Fluff.


"Daddy!"

Frances stumbled as she jumped out of the chair and sprinted over to Nate. With impressive dexterity, she leaped into his outstretched arms.

Nate gritted his teeth as the pain from the impact shot through his torso, but he didn't let go of his daughter. "Hey Fran," he said, his voice audibly strained. "How was your week?"

"You didn't tell me you were going away." She looked at him, frowning. "We went to the aquarium without you."

"Well, you'll need to bring me next time," he said. "I want to see those penguins."

"Mommy bought me a penguin!"

"She did, did she? What are you feeding it?"

Frances rolled her eyes. "A _stuffie_ penguin."

"Oh, well that's not nearly as exciting."

Frances squirmed slightly, which caused Nate to let out an involuntary gasp loud enough to startle both her and Elena. "Okay hon," Elena said as she pried their daughter from Nate's arms. "Daddy's really tired, so why don't we let him rest?"

Nate watched as Elena carried their daughter back to her room. As soon as Frances was around the corner, he collapsed onto the nearest kitchen chair, his face white with pain. At the age of four, Frances was already starting to realize that he and Elena weren't being entirely honest about what he did for a living, and he knew at some point they'd need to tell her how much danger he put himself in on a regular basis. He just couldn't bring himself to do it now.

A few minutes later, Elena rushed back into the kitchen. "How bad does it hurt?"

"It's only when I move, but...I've been better." He winced.

"Have you checked it recently?"

"Elena, if it were infected, I'd be doing a lot worse by now."

"Not so loud! Fran's watching a movie in the next room."

"Ah, shit, sorry."

Elena sat down beside him and gingerly touched his shoulder. "I was really worried."

"I'm sorry. I got in touch with you as soon as I could."

"I know." her fingers trailed down his arm until they found his hand. "I'm not going to ask why you were being shot at."

Nate chuckled lightly. "Are you going to ask if I found anything?"

"I'm going to assume whatever you found paid for that bullet being dug out of you."

"Not for the job they did," Nate grinned in spite of himself. He dug into his pocket and pulled out a few battered coins and a gold necklace with a dark red stone pendant. "Managed to keep some of it. Not much, but it'll do."

Elena stroked his hand with her thumb, her expression remaining unchanged. "Restless, huh?"

"Wha-?" He looked up at her with a charmingly vacant expression on his face. For a brief moment, he could see her crack a smile.

"Those National Geographics that I keep finding at the bottom of our recycling bin kind of tipped me off."

"Oh...I...look, I just like the pictures."

"Mm-hmm." Slowly and carefully, as though he were made of glass, she laid her head against his shoulder and gave his hand another squeeze, making sure not to lean against his torso. For a few moments they sat there in silence, breathing rhythmically together. He would have been content to stay there forever if he didn't suddenly feel a small hand against his knee.

"Daddy, do you want to see my penguin?"

She was looking at him with big eyes that betrayed every emotion that was running through her head. It made his throat hurt to see her looking at him like that, as though she were afraid he would disappear. He wanted to hug her tightly and promise her that he wasn't going anywhere, but he had already broken that promise too many times over the course of her life.

"Sure, Fran," he grunted as he started to rise to his feet. "Do you want some hot chocolate or something?"

"Yes please."

"I'll make it," Elena said as she stood up. Gently she helped Nate stand, and once he had found his feet, she walked to the counter.

Frances guided him by the hand back to her room, where a fat stuffed penguin sat upright on the bed. "That's cute," he said. "Do you have a name picked out yet?"

"Alice."

Nate smiled. "That's still you favourite name?"

"It's pretty."

"I agree." He sat at the foot of the bed as she crawled in under the covers. "So...Fran, I was thinking that we should do something fun tomorrow."

"Really?" That look again. _This kid's just going to keep breaking my heart,_ Nate thought.

"Yeah, I was thinking we could go see a movie, maybe get some ice cream after. What do you think."

Frances smiled, and Nate felt a wave of relief wash over him. "I'd like that," she said, gripping the penguin tightly to her chest.

Nate started to lean forward to kiss her forehead when he heard a rattling. He turned to see that Elena was standing in the doorway, holding a tray with three mugs. "Sorry to interrupt," she said as she carefully moved to the bed. "I thought we might all might want some cocoa before bed."

The three of them sat together, sipping hot chocolate and talking, like a family in a Kellogg's commercial. He hated those ads when he was growing up: they were selling him a life that he had been robbed of when he was five. Maybe it was time for him to take that life back. He knew that he never wanted Frances to feel bitter towards cereal commercials.

After they drained the last of their hot chocolate, Nate leaned in and kissed Frances on the forehead.

"Good night Fran."

"Good night Daddy."

Elena cleared her throat.

"...and Mommy."

Elena wrapped her arm around Nate, letting him rest his weight on her as the two of them walked back to their room together. Once the door was closed behind him, she started to lean in to embrace him, but then stopped.

"I won't be able to hug you for a while, will I," she asked.

"I really don't care at this point." Nate leaned in and wrapped his arms around her tightly, trying not to wince. "I missed you."

"I know." She wriggled free from his grasp and looked into his eyes. Her expression had started to cloud over. "But Nate, be honest. Are you bored?"

"Bored?"

"Of Vancouver. Of working a desk job. Of...me and Fran."

"Oh God, no. I'm not bored. It's just..I don't know. Old habits die hard I guess. But being with you makes me happy. Both of you. And I think I'm ready to stop getting shot at."

"Meaning you'll try to be sneakier in the future?"

Nate let out a hollow laugh. "No, I was thinking that I could maybe avoid those situations altogether. Be an okay dad for once in my life."

"Nate, you're -"

" - never around. I didn't even know that Fran liked penguins. She's deserves better than that. She's such an amazing kid and I feel like I barely know her." He wasn't expecting to start welling up, but he could feel the tears starting to surface. _Shit._ He averted his gaze, focusing hard on the armoire, but it was no use. Each sob was agony as it shook his body to the core. Elena stood frozen to the spot; she looked unsure of what to say or do. Tentatively, she put her arms around him.

"She's four years old. You'll have a lot of opportunities to make up for the lost time."

He breathed deeply and wiped the tears away from his eyes.

"You're right. I'm so - "

Before he could finish, she leaned in and kissed him deeply and hungrily.

"I've been wanting to do that for a week," she said, smiling. "And never apologize for that."

Nate smiled and ran his hand through her hair. "Good. I don't really feel like talking right now anyway."

Elena raised an eyebrow. "You really have the energy for that right now?"

"Huh? Oh uh, I actually meant I wanted to go to sleep."

"Oh."

He chuckled and gave her a light kiss. "But once I'm no longer in pain, I'm game."


End file.
